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James Potter
|Death= 31 October 1981 Godric's Hollow, West County, England |Blood Status= Pure-blood |Other Names= Prongs |Family= Mr Potter Mrs Potter Lily Potter Harry Potter Ginevra Weasley James Potter Albus Potter Lily Potter Petunia Dursley Vernon Dursley Dudley Dursley |School= Hogwarts School |School House= Gryffindor |Wand= 11", Mahogany |Patronus= Stag |Animagus= Stag |Boggart= |Occupation = |Loyalty= Order of the Phoenix }}'James Potter '(27 March 1960 - 31 October 1981) was an English pure-blood wizard. He was also the husband of Lily Potter and the father of Harry Potter. He was a founding member of the Marauders who joined the Order of the Phoenix in the First Wizarding War. James and Lily had to go into hiding when Voldemort targeted Harry. They stayed in Godric's Hollow, but their Secret Keeper, Peter Pettigrew betrayed them and James was killed bravely protecting Lily and Harry from Voldemort. He and Lily had a memorial statue enacted in Godric's Hollow, and Harry and Ginny Weasley named their first child James in honour of him. Biography Early life James was born to Mr Potter and Mrs Potter in March 1960. He was their only child because he was born later in their lives, and were elderly even by wizarding standards. He was treasured and indulged when he was growing up. A family heirloom (a Cloak of Invisibility) which belonged to their ancestor, Ignotus Peverell was passed to James. He would use it to sneak around, especially when he was attending Hogwarts. Education Early years In September 1971, James began attending Hogwarts School. He befriended Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew when they were in the train to their first-year. He was introduced to Lily Evans and Severus Snape too, but they were unkind to Snape (who they would spend years bullying). James wanted to be in Gryffindor and he was Sorted into the house by the Sorting Hat. James was a smart and popular student, and talented at Quidditch. He was the Chaser for the Gryffindor Quidditch team and Professor McGonagall would later say she thought James was excellent. But even though he was popular, he was also known for breaking school rules, and pranking and bullying students, upsetting Lily. It was during their education that James and Sirius developed a brotherly bond, and used to go to the Three Broomsticks Inn where their antics tended to leave Rosmerta laughing. James did have a good heart, even though he was blind he was to the issues he caused, and when he found out in their second-year that Remus was a werewolf, he began the process of gaining the skill of turning Animagus to join him and support him during transformations. He trained for three years until he was able to transform into a stag. James, Sirius, Remus and Peter had spent a lot of time exploring the school by doing so, and invented the Marauder's Map to help them sneak around unnoticed. James was given the name "Prongs". James stayed arrogant to the point that "criticism bounced right off him". He hexed students for the fun of it, arrogantly ruffled his hair to make it look untidier than it actually was, and took a Golden Snitch around with him. He fancied Lily Evans but she was immune to James's charms because she found the bullying very unattractive. In an Ordinary Wizarding Level examination, he wrote Lily's name in a love heart. James had continued bullying a Slytherin student, Severus Snape since their first-year. He was very unkind to Snape and he James and Sirius insulted him whenever they could, even going so far to nickname him "Snivellus". James thought Snape loved Lily and he found their friendship annoying because he had developed a crush on her too , and Snape developed an interest in the Dark Arts which James despised. Snape had fought back, and they had an intense rivalry. At the end of an O.W.L. examination, Sirius was bored so they decided to taunt and hex Snape for fun. Snape was used to their taunting and he jumped up at the sound of their voices. He grabbed a wand, but James used the Disarming Charm and Impedimenta first. They taunted Snape until Lily asked James to stop, and he said he would if Lily went out with him, but Lily told him she would not date him "even if it was a choice between him and the Giant Squid". Snape broke free of the hex and began fighting back, but James further humiliated Snape by hanging him upside-down and threatening to strip his underwear. Lily begged and demanded James to stop again, and even got her wand out and pointed it at James. He gave up and let Snape down, but taunted him a final time by calling him Snivellus and telling him he was lucky Lily helped. It caused Snape to call her "a Mudblood", because he was further embarrassed she had to help and thought he didn't need her to do that. James demanded Snape apologise. Lily told Snape she wouldn't help in the future, and their friendship was ended. James told her he would never call her that, but Lily criticised James and told him he was bad too because he was an arrogant bully who sickened her. James turned on Snape again when she was gone. Later years To support Remus, James and their fellow Marauders continued to go to the Shrieking Shack in Animagus form to keep him company . They began to get very confident about keeping a werewolf in check. Lupin's mind turned into less of a beast in their company, and because he and Sirius were large creatures, they could stand up to a werewolf if needed. They started to wander round the grounds and village, instead of just staying in the Shack. Lupin nearly got away a few times, but they were young and found it funny. Snape saw Lupin being taken to the Whomping Willow and was curious to know why. Sirius got annoyed at how curious he was and told Snape how to tap a knot in the tree to get past it. Snape entered the passageway to the Shrieking Shack, unaware he was headed straight towards a werewolf and into danger. James found out, and saved Snape's life by pulling him back. Snape thought James had intended to kill him too and just got cold feet. He was now indebted to James, which he found hard to bear. By their seventh-year, James had started to change, and he impressed Lily, who began to change her opinion of him. Both she and James were Head Boy and Head Girl. She finally agreed to date. In 1977, he and Sirius were pursued by Muggle police in a motorbike chase. It was intended to be fun but they were suddenly pursued by three people on broomsticks. James and Sirius raised the police car with their wands and caused their broomstick pursuers crash into it. Eventually, the police managed to corner them but they shocked the police by using their flying motorbike to escape. First Wizarding War James graduated in June 1978 and at the age of 18, he married Lily Evans in a small service. Sirius was best man at the wedding. He, Lily and the other Marauders joined the Order of the Phoenix to combat Voldemort and the Death Eaters when the First Wizarding War was in full swing and Voldemort was at the height of power. James and Lily escaped Voldemort three times. In 1979, Lily fell pregnant with their first child and they spent less time being actively involved in the First Wizarding War. James had lost both parents to a wizarding illness and inherited their fortune. He didn't need a job to support Lily, and he was able use it to support Remus, who was unemployable because he was a werewolf. In hiding In 1980, Harry was born and he and Lily held a Christening and chose Sirius to be godfather. In 1981, Voldemort began searching to kill Harry because he had heard a prophecy about how Harry would one day have a power to defeat him. James and Lily had to go into hiding for Harry's safety, and Dumbledore advised they choose a Secret Keeper to enact a Fidelius Charm. They had to choose wisely because he suspected a person close to them was a spy for Voldemort. Dumbledore offered to be their Secret Keeper, but James declined. James wanted to Sirius to be their Secret Keeper, but he suggested it was too easy to guess they would choose him because of how close they were. He instead suggested they use Peter, having suspected Lupin was a spy. He and Lily enacted a Fidelius Charm, telling Peter they were hiding in Godric's Hollow. They were wrong to trust Peter because he was the spy, and he told Voldemort less than seven days later. Death James was killed by Voldemort first when he got to Godric's Hollow. James was fighting when he shouted to Lily who it was, telling her to take Harry and run. He fought bravely but was soon killed. Lily was killed a short time later, but Harry lived. The family were celebrated the next day in the wizarding world. Harry was taken from Godric's Hollow by Rubeus Hagrid to be raised by Petunia. Petunia was unhappy because she wanted nothing to do with the wizarding world. She thought James was Lily's "good-for-nothing husband" , and she and Vernon raised Harry to have no knowledge about the wizarding world. Petunia would tell Harry that Lily and James died in a car accident and he would only find out the truth many years later, when Harry was told by Rubeus Hagrid on Harry's eleventh birthday. At one point, he gave the Cloak of Invisibility to Dumbledore for safe-keeping shortly before he was killed and he kept it until he could give it to Harry ten years later. Appearance James was said to be tall and thin. He had untidy, black hair which stuck up at the back and he wore glasses. Notes and sources Category:Characters Category:Wizards Category:Gryffindors Category:Sorted in 1971 Category:Marauders